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USC weekend deemed calm in spite of high attendance

Notre Dame’s Oct. 19 matchup against USC under the lights brought season-high attendance for game day activities on campus, director of game day operations Mike Seamon said.

“It was a great weekend for the University,” Seamon said. “As anticipated, it was a very active few days and nights on campus. This game was consistent with the two previous night games, USC [in] 2011 and Michigan [in] 2012, in terms of activity and excitement of campus.”

That activity included more than 1,400 guests at the Friday Football Luncheon, 4,765 guests in the Friday stadium tunnel tour and more than 10,000 fans at the pep rally, he said. An estimated total of more than 110,000 guests flooded campus that Saturday.

“It was great to see coach [Brian] Kelly and the team welcome [former] coach [Lou] Holtz and the 1988 National Championship team at the pep rally Friday evening,” Seamon said. “Having the two teams present underscored the significance of the ND-USC rivalry and how important the game is to our players and fans.”

Seamon said they saw a “noticeable uptick in activity” once the morning rain cleared, with significantly more vehicles and visitors to campus.

Phil Johnson, chief of police for NDSP, said his team made two arrests at the stadium on game day, both for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He said post-game traffic proved to be a significant factor for police.

“Given the close score, fans stayed until the end of the game,” Johnson said. “And unlike afternoon games, when some fans remain on campus for Mass, dinner, tailgating or to enjoy sites on campus, following a night game everyone leaves campus at the same time.

“Area police agencies worked diligently to facilitate a safe traffic flow on area roadways. There were no reported traffic crashes,” he said.

Despite the traffic congestion, Seamon said the post-game exit went relatively smoothly.

“The post-game traffic was heavy,” he said. “Everyone simply wanted to leave at once since it had been a long day. But thankfully everyone left safe and sound and there were no major post-game incidents.”